RJD2
The Colossus - ELECTRICAL CONNECTIONS
FILTER Grade: 88%

Since busting out with Def Jux and Deadringer in 2002, Ramble John Krohn has cut a multitasker’s career out of stellar instro-hop and indie pop-rock chops. Leaving Def Jux after the release of his 2004 sophomore effort Since We Last Spoke, which drew fewer comparisons to DJ Shadow and more to soul star Donny Hathaway, RJD2 joined XL Recordings to become more of a conventional pop-rocker on 2007’s The Third Hand, singing and playing instruments on almost every track. Throw in scoring an award-winning theme for TV’s Mad Men and a video game for Marc Ecko, and the table is set for this varied effort, released on Krohn’s own label, RJ’s Electrical Connections. The Colossus hopscotches across RJD2’s résumé like a giddy kid. The rollicking instrumental funk of “Giant Squid” and “The Stranger,” as well as the menacing space-hop of “A Spaceship for Now,” are subtle interstellar explorations. The sunny soul and jazz of “Crumbs Off the Table” (featuring Aaron Livingston) and “The Shining Path” (featuring Phonte Coleman) shine as bright as Since We Last Spoke’s Hathaway homages, although lyrically dark. Meanwhile, the anti-capitalist satire of “The Glow” and doo-wop hop of “Walk With Me” show off Krohn’s uncanny talent on piano and pipes. Krohn’s the real deal, in a world full of one-dimensional derivatives.